Gap Selling
Reviewed By Gideon Thomas -Published September 7, 2023
Table of Contents
What Is Gap Selling?
Gap Selling is a modern sales approach developed by sales expert and author Keenan that focuses on identifying and addressing the gaps or discrepancies between a potential customer’s current situation and their desired future state. The methodology is described in Keenan’s book Gap Selling: Getting the Customer to Yes. Instead of simply pushing products or services, gap selling involves actively probing and understanding the customer’s pain points, challenges, and objectives.
Sales professionals using this methodology employ a consultative approach, engaging in meaningful conversations to uncover the customer’s specific needs and aspirations. By highlighting the disparities between where the customer currently stands and where they want to be (their current state vs. their future state), the salesperson can effectively position their offerings as the ideal solution to bridge that gap. This customer-centric approach not only leads to more successful sales but also builds stronger, long-term relationships between the salesperson and the customer.
Sales reps must be adept at active listening, empathetic communication, and critical thinking to use the Gap Selling process successfully. They need to understand the customer’s business or personal goals, recognize the potential obstacles preventing them from reaching those goals, and then articulate how their product or service can overcome those challenges. The core idea of gap selling lies in demonstrating the value of the solution, not just in terms of its features and specifications but, more importantly, in how it directly addresses the specific gaps hindering the customer’s progress. By aligning the sales pitch with the customer’s unique needs, gap selling enables sales professionals to position themselves as trusted advisors rather than mere vendors, creating a more collaborative and successful sales process.
Synonyms
- Gap selling framework
- Gap selling methodology
Gap Selling vs. Other Sales Methodologies
Gap selling stands out from other sales methodologies due to its specific focus on identifying and addressing the gaps between the customer’s current state and desired future state. Let’s explore the key differences between gap selling and other common sales approaches:
Problem-solving vs. Product-pushing
Unlike traditional sales techniques that revolve around pushing products or services onto customers, gap selling emphasizes problem-solving. It involves understanding the customer’s pain points and challenges, then positioning the product or service as the solution to bridge the identified gaps.
Customer-centricity
Gap selling is highly customer-centric. It revolves around understanding the customer’s unique needs, goals, and aspirations. Instead of delivering a standardized sales pitch, gap selling salespeople engage in meaningful conversations to tailor their approach to each customer’s specific situation.
Consultative Approach
In contrast to transactional selling, gap selling follows a consultative approach. Sales professionals act as trusted advisors, actively listening to the customer, asking insightful questions, and providing personalized solutions that directly address the customer’s pain points.
Value-driven Messaging
While some sales methodologies might focus on features and benefits, gap selling concentrates on the value the product or service brings to the customer’s life or business. It aims to clearly demonstrate how the offering addresses the customer’s challenges and helps them achieve their desired outcomes.
Long-term Relationship Building
Gap selling aims to build strong, long-term relationships with customers. By understanding their needs deeply and providing tailored solutions, sales professionals establish themselves as partners in the customer’s success rather than one-time sellers.
Emotional Intelligence and Empathy
Gap selling heavily relies on emotional intelligence and empathy. Salespeople must connect with the customer on a personal level, understand their emotions, and build rapport to gain trust and credibility.
Gap selling distinguishes itself through its customer-centric, consultative, and problem-solving approach. It involves understanding the customer’s gaps, presenting personalized solutions, and building lasting relationships based on trust and value. Other sales methodologies may prioritize different aspects of the sales process, but gap selling’s emphasis on understanding and addressing customer needs sets it apart.
Gap Selling Methodology Benefits
The gap selling framework offers several significant benefits for both sales professionals and customers. Some of the key advantages include:
Customer-focused: Gap selling centers around the customer’s specific needs and goals. By actively listening and understanding their unique challenges, salespeople can tailor their approach and provide personalized solutions. This customer-centric approach builds trust and credibility, leading to stronger and more fruitful relationships.
Higher conversion rates: When sales reps focus on identifying and addressing the gaps in the customer’s current situation, they can effectively demonstrate the value of their offerings. This results in higher conversion rates as the customer can clearly see how the product or service directly solves their problems and moves them closer to their desired future state.
Increased customer satisfaction: Since gap selling aligns the solution directly with the customer’s needs, the likelihood of post-sales dissatisfaction decreases. Customers are more likely to be satisfied with their purchase because it directly addresses their pain points and delivers the desired outcomes.
Long-term customer loyalty: Gap selling emphasizes building relationships and acting as a trusted advisor. By consistently providing value and tailored solutions, sales professionals can foster long-term customer loyalty and repeat business.
Shorter sales cycles: Understanding the customer’s needs and presenting a tailored solution can significantly reduce the sales cycle. The customer feels confident in their decision, and the sales process becomes more efficient.
Competitive advantage: Gap selling sets salespeople apart from competitors who might use traditional, product-focused sales methods. By positioning themselves as problem solvers and trusted advisors, sales reps gain a competitive edge in the market.
Enhanced sales team morale: Gap selling empowers sales professionals to engage in more meaningful interactions with customers. As they see the positive impact of addressing customer needs, it boosts the morale and motivation of the sales team.
Deeper market insights: The process of identifying customer gaps requires a deeper understanding of the market and the challenges customers face. Sales teams gain valuable insights that can inform product development and marketing strategies.
Gap Selling Discovery Questions
The Gap Selling method utilizes four main types of discovery questions to understand the customer’s needs and pain points thoroughly:
Probing Questions
Probing questions are open-ended inquiries designed to delve deeper into the customer’s current situation and challenges. These questions encourage the customer to elaborate and provide detailed information. Sales professionals use probing questions to uncover the underlying reasons behind the customer’s pain points and to gain insights into their specific needs. For instance, “Can you tell me more about the issues you’re experiencing with your current software system?”
Process Questions
Process questions are aimed at understanding the customer’s existing processes and workflows. By asking about the steps they currently follow to address their challenges, sales reps can identify inefficiencies and gaps that need to be filled. These questions help the salesperson understand the customer’s internal workings and how their product or service can fit seamlessly into their operations. For example, “Can you walk me through your current sales process and the tools you use to manage leads?”
Provoking Questions
Provoking questions are thought-provoking and challenge the customer’s assumptions or existing beliefs. These questions encourage customers to think differently about their problems and envision alternative solutions. Sales professionals use provoking questions to create a sense of urgency and highlight the potential risks of maintaining the status quo. An example of a provoking question is, “Have you considered the long-term consequences of not addressing these challenges?”
Validating Questions
Validating questions are used to confirm the understanding of the customer’s needs and challenges. Sales reps use these questions to ensure that they have accurately captured the customer’s requirements and that the proposed solutions align with their objectives. Validating questions also demonstrate that the salesperson is genuinely interested in meeting the customer’s specific needs. For instance, “Based on our discussion, it seems like security is a top priority for you. Is that correct?”
By utilizing probing, process, provoking, and validating questions during the discovery process, sales professionals employing the Gap Selling method can gather comprehensive information about the customer’s situation and goals. This thorough understanding enables them to present tailored solutions that directly address the customer’s gaps, resulting in more successful and value-driven sales interactions.
Best Practices for Developing a Gap Selling Strategy
Developing a robust gap selling strategy requires a thoughtful and comprehensive approach. Here are some best practices to consider when creating a successful gap selling strategy:
Deep Understanding of the Customer
The foundation of a successful gap selling strategy lies in a deep understanding of the customer. Conduct thorough research on your target audience, their pain points, goals, and challenges. Utilize a combination of market research, customer interviews, and data analysis to gain valuable insights. Develop ideal customer profiles to create a clear picture of your ideal customers and tailor your gap selling approach to address their specific needs and aspirations.
Implement Active Listening and Empathy
Gap selling is all about being customer-centric and empathetic. Train your sales team to practice active listening, ask probing questions, and show genuine empathy toward the customer’s challenges. By demonstrating that you truly understand their unique situation, you build trust and credibility, fostering stronger customer relationships. Empathy also enables sales professionals to identify and address emotional aspects of the customer’s needs, which can be just as crucial as rational ones.
Provide Continuous Sales Training
Gap selling is a consultative approach that requires a high level of expertise and skill from the sales team. Offer continuous sales training to ensure that your team is well-versed in the gap selling methodology, effective questioning techniques, and value-based selling. Regularly update the team with market insights and product knowledge to keep them up-to-date and confident during customer interactions. Encourage role-playing exercises and feedback sessions to refine their gap selling abilities continually.
In summary, a deep understanding of the customer, empathetic communication, and continuous sales training are the foundation of gap selling. By tailoring the organization’s approach to meet the specific needs of the company’s ideal customer and providing value-driven solutions, the sales team can position their offerings as the ideal bridge to help customers overcome their challenges and achieve their desired future state. Investing in the sales team’s skills and knowledge will lead to more meaningful interactions, stronger customer relationships, and, ultimately, increased sales success.
People Also Ask
What’s the difference between gap selling and solution selling?
Gap selling and solution selling are two distinct sales methodologies with different approaches and focuses. Let’s explore the key differences between the two sales strategies:
Focus on Identifying Gaps vs. Presenting Solutions
Gap Selling: The primary focus of gap selling is to identify and understand the gaps or discrepancies between the customer’s current state and their desired future state. Sales professionals using gap selling ask probing questions to uncover the customer’s pain points and challenges before presenting a solution that directly addresses those gaps.
Solution Selling: In contrast, solution selling concentrates on presenting a predefined solution to the customer. The sales process revolves around showcasing the features and benefits of the product or service and demonstrating how it can meet the customer’s needs. While solution selling also involves some level of discovery, it does not put as much emphasis on identifying gaps as gap selling does.
Customer-Centricity vs. Product-Centricity
Gap Selling: Gap selling is highly customer-centric. It focuses on understanding the customer’s unique needs, goals, and aspirations. Sales professionals act as trusted advisors, engaging in meaningful conversations to provide tailored solutions that directly address the customer’s pain points.
Solution Selling: Solution selling tends to be more product-centric. The sales approach revolves around promoting the features and capabilities of the product or service, often following a predefined sales pitch. While customer needs are considered, the primary focus is on presenting the solution.
Consultative Approach vs. Transactional Approach
Gap Selling: Gap selling follows a consultative approach. Salespeople act as problem solvers, actively listening to the customer, asking insightful questions, and providing personalized solutions. The goal is to build a deeper relationship with the customer and understand their needs fully.
Solution Selling: Solution selling may follow a more transactional approach. The sales process can be less focused on building relationships and more on completing the transaction. While some level of consultative selling might still be involved, it may not be as in-depth as in gap selling.
What is the gap selling theory?
The theory behind the gap selling approach to sales revolves around identifying and addressing the gaps or discrepancies between the customer’s current situation and their desired future state. The main premise is that customers don’t buy products or services; they buy solutions to their problems and aspirations. By understanding the gaps, challenges, and pain points that customers face, sales professionals can position their offerings as the ideal solution to bridge those gaps and help customers achieve their desired outcomes.
As mentioned above, the gap selling theory involves a consultative and customer-centric approach to selling. It requires salespeople to engage in meaningful conversations with customers, asking probing questions to uncover their specific needs and aspirations. By actively listening and empathizing with the customer, sales professionals can gain a deep understanding of their challenges and demonstrate that they genuinely care about helping them succeed. The focus is on providing value and addressing the customer’s unique requirements, not just selling a product.
Another essential aspect of the gap selling theory is the emphasis on value. Rather than simply presenting features and benefits, sales professionals need to articulate the value their product or service brings to the customer’s life or business. This value is directly tied to how the offering resolves the customer’s pain points and bridges the identified gaps. By aligning the sales pitch with the customer’s specific needs, salespeople can position themselves as trusted advisors and partners in the customer’s success.
